The Bad Cat Black Cat Series II 1x12 Valve Combo USA Built Amplifier. Killer Tones in a Retro Looking Box - Black Vinyl and Golden Speaker Cloth. For Those Interested in the Black Cat Extension Cabinet see my review here - (   • UB:31 Bad Cat Black Cat Ext. Cabinet ...  )

When it comes to Valve amplifiers, Fender, Marshall and Vox are just some of the big names that will be mentioned first, and rightly so, since they have helped to shape music history. But aside the well-known brands of days-gone-bye, there is a world of boutique amplifiers out there, brought to us by a handful of dedicated engineers who battle to design those elusive tones guitar players chase after. Bad Cat amplifiers began life around 1999 and it’s inventor, the late James Heidrich had a long history in the amplification world. Various models are available as both Amplifier Heads + Cabinets and Combination Amplifiers with the ability to also hook-up to an extension cabinet if desired.

The new Series II Black Cat combo model has 2 x EL84 Power Tubes and 3 x 12AX7 tubes with 2 Custom Hand-Wound Bad Cat Transformers. The 12” speaker is a Bad Cat v30 custom made for them by Celestion. Having used this amplifier along with a Black Cat extension cabinet in my studio, I really enjoy the tones that can be dialled into this and when it comes to my Fender guitars it really brings out the best in them. As with most valve amplifier combos, weight is one of the drawbacks and if I have anything to say that's a negative... yes it's the weight, not the heaviest I've had but as you get older these things begin to become more noticeable. In this video I give a general overview of all the controls and illustrate tones from both single coil and hum-bucking guitar types. This amplifier does have quite a range of tonal possibilities and therefore it does need time to sit with it, and without doubt the tones you get are excellent... Enjoy!

My other playlists -
- Q&As Answering topical questions…
- Stu's Guitar Recording Journey
- Unboxing Music Equipment Videos
- Stu's Guitar Journey! (12 part Video Series)
- Guitar Backing Tracks - Blues, Ballads and Cinematic
- Stu's Guitar Channel short Trailer

In UB 27 Video (Unboxing Video 27) I take a look at a very special electro-acoustic guitar from the renowned manufacturer Taylor and in this video, the Taylor 814ce Grand Auditorium -    • UB:27 Taylor 814ce GA Electro Acousti...  

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Backing tracks for Guitar. Free to download but copyright protected.*